Card punching device



United States Patent Frederick W. Macone Carlisle, Massachusetts 746,645

July 22, 1968 Dec. 1, 1 970 Avant Incorporated Lincoln, Massachusetts a corporation of Massachusetts Inventor App]. No. Filed Patented Assignee CARD PUNCIIING DEVICE 8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 83/449,

83/55, 83/467, 83/520, 83/522, 83/690 Int. Cl. B26d 7/16, B26d 7/28 [50] Field of Search 83/520, 249, 252, 685, 690, 55, 449, 467; 269/287, 288

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,085,618 4/1963 Brundage 83/685X 3,207,021 9/1965 Bradley 83/520 Primary ExaminerAndrew R. Juhasz Assistant Examiner-Leon Gilden Attorney- Robert L. Nathans ABSTRACT: An improved card punching device is disclosed herein which employs means for insuring that a card to be punched in the punching device may be accurately and rapidly positioned with respect to the movable punching members to eliminate the production of improperly punched cards.

Patented Dec. 1, 1970 3,543,626

FEEDER/CK W. MACO/VE INVENTOR.

ATTOR/VEK- 1 CARD PuNcnrNG DEVICE BACKGROUND or THE INVENTION Laminated cards such as identification cards often require neatly cut and accurately dimensioned small photographic prints of individuals, It isoften desirable to produce a plurality of such prints of an individual simultaneously by utilizing a multiple image camera to form a plurality of small prints of the subject upon a larger standard size film format. The standard sized print containing, for example, two identical photographs side by side is inserted into a die cutting device which punches out the two aforesaid smaller prints of the required dimensions, and at the same time removes the white borders and may add rounded comers. The problem with utilizing such die cutting devices of known design is that rapid and accurate positioning of the photographic prints with respect to the cutting members is difficult to obtain in practice because the prints are often curved or bent in one or two dimensions which hinders proper seating or positioning within the cutting device. If the prints are improperly seated by impatient unskilled operators who are subjected to fatigue, print mutilation and wastage is considerable as the subject, such as a college student or an applicant for an auto license, might have to be recalled to be photographed again.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a specially positioned indentation is formed in the die member which enables the operator performing the punching operation to flick or laterally bow a curved card to cause it to be momentarily straightened to facilitate complete seating into the die nest, which in turn results in proper punching of the card. Complete seating may be readily verified since the upper edge of a properly seated card will be situated at the lower terminal portion of the indentation. A specially formed insertion slot forces the operator to straighten any horizontal bend present in the card upon insertion. Such a horizontal bend, like a vertical bend, often causes the lower edge of'the card to be hung up" on a lower ledge portion of the die member to prevent proper seating of the card within the nest.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the inspection of the following description taken in conjunctionwith the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 discloses a front view of that portion of a die cutting device which includes the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of the device.

FIG. 3 illustrates a top view of a plate member portion of FIG. I.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION FIGS. 1 and 2 disclose a stationary die member -1 having rectangular cutout portions therein which encompass a pair of tightly fitted movable punch members 2 and 2. The cutouts are separated by rib member 3. A card receiving cavity 4 received the card 6 to bepunched, and includes a nest portion 7 at.its lower terminal portion. When the leading edge 8 of card 6 is completely seated, that is contacts the lowermost portion of nest 7, punch members 2and 2' are moved to punch out the dual pictures printed upon card 6. The white borders are removed and rounded corners are produced to form the completed pictures. The details of the punch actuation member, the stripper plate and other portions of the card punching mechanism have not been shown since they form no part of the present invention and would tend to obscure rather than clarify the invention. Obviously, virtually any type of tog gle mechanism may be utilized to actuate the punch.

As mentioned hereinabove, a vertically bowed print such as print 6 shown in FIG.' 2 may be difficult to properly seat in a prior art punching mechanism, thereby to cause a mutilation of the punched prints. The leading edge 8 of card 6 is typically hung up on ledge 9 situated at the lower portion of die member I. In order to solve this problem in accordance with the present invention an indentation 11 is formed in both upper portion 12 and upper portion 13 of die member I. As illustrated in FIG. 1 the upper edge I4 of hung up card 6 is positioned so that the operator may visually observe the fact that the card is not wholly seated within nest 7, and what is more important, card portion 14 may be flicked back and forth by an abrupt movement of the operator's finger. This causes the vertically bent card 6 to be momentarily unbent so that the leading edge 8 of the card 6 may contact the bottom surface 16 of nest 7, owing to the action of gravity being able to pull the card downward upon being momentarily straightened. As a result, card 6 assumes the properly seated position represented by the dashed card outline 6', the nonseated card outline being represented by dot-dashed lines in FIG. 1. The distance between the lower nest surface 16 and the lowest portion of indentation ll shown at 17 is equal to the height of card 6 when straightened so that the top edge 14 of card 6 will be positioned just at the lower portion 17 of indentation II. As a result of the foregoing, the inventor has provided a means in which fatigued and unskilled operators may readily cause a card to be punched to be properly seated within the die member. This problem has heretofore been difficult to solve particularly with respect to photo prints which are often bent to a considerable degree due to processing. When the card is properly seated the top edge 14 of the card will be positioned just at the lower portion 17 of indentation ll. so that the operator may pass his finger over this portion of the indentation to verify proper seating since he will be able to feel the upper edge of the card and additionally visually verify that the card has been seated.

In addition to the vertical bending of card 6 the card often has a similar bend in the horizontal direction. As a result, the left-hand portion 19 and/or the right-hand portion 21 of the inserted card may become hung up on the ledge portions 8 of the die member to also produce improper seating. A plate member 22 is positioned just above the entrance to the card receiving cavity 4 and forms a portion of the casing enveloping the cutting device. A thin elongated slot 23 is formed in the plate member, preferably having the approximate shape shown in FIG. 3. A hemispherical dimple 24 is formed within the plate member so that the operator may perform the aforesaid flicking operation by virtue of cutout 11 formed in the die member. The key feature of slot 23 involves the reduction of the width of the slot at a central portion thereof shown 1 at 26 in FIG. 3. This reduced slot width portion forces the operator to straighten such a horizontally oriented bend upon insertion of the card to reduce the likelihood of the card being hung up in the die. This approach has been found to be quite effective in solving the seating problem owing to horizontal curvature of the card.

Additionally, the slot width is reduced at the slot extremities which results in a' further straightening of a horizontally curved card to produce a three point alinement of the bowed print. By inserting the print emulsion side downward with respect to FIG. 3, the extreme portions of the slot will contact the print at outer border portions of the print where there is-no emulsion to be abraded. The central back portion of the print is contacted on the nonemulsion side by the top edge of slot portion 26, and thus the three point alinement slot configuration does not touch the emulsion at any point. Thus the unique slot configuration of the present invention functions to straighten a horizontally bowed print and at the same time protects the emulsion of the print from harmful contact with the device.

It should be understood that the term die member includes any ancillary structure to die element 1 such as a support frame. For example, nest 7 may be formed in an independent member physically separate from the actual female die itself. Obviously the male punch member 2 may be stationary while the female die member 1 moves with respect to it. In like manner the aforesaid indentation ll might conceivably be formed in a member physically separate from the actual female die member 1 so that the term die member as used herein includes any such ancillary structure. Likewise, the novel slot 23 might be formed in the actual die member 1 surrounding the punch rather than in a separate plate member as shown.

I claim:

1. In a die cutting device for punching cards, the improvement comprising:

a die member including a card receiving cavity having a nest portion for receiving the leading edge of a card to be punched, said card being properly positioned for punching with respect to said die member when the leading edge of said card is seated within said nest;

a punching member movable with respect to said die member for punching said card and an indentation formed within said die member entering into said cavity and positioned remote from said nest portion for permitting said card to be flicked upon insertion into said card receiving cavity thereby to facilitate the seating of the leading edge of said card within the nest portion of said card receiving cavity.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the terminal portion of said indentation is positioned at a distance from the terminal portion of said nest portion equal to a dimension of said card so that the proper seating of said card within said nest portion may be readily verified by an operator of the device by felling for the presence of an edge of the card at the terminal portion of said indentation.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 1 further including means situated adjacent said card receiving cavity having a card receiving slot formed therein, said slot having a centralized portion of narrower width than noncentralized portions thereof to force the operator to straighten a curved card upon insertion into said card receiving cavity to facilitate seating of said card into the nest portion thereof.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 2 further including means situated adjacent said card receiving cavity having a card receiving slot formed therein, said slot having a centralized portion of narrower width than noncentralized portions thereof to force the operator to straighten a curved card upon insertion into said card receiving cavity to facilitate seating of said card into the nest portion thereof.

5. The combination as set forth in claim 3 wherein the extreme portions of said slot are narrower in width than adjacent slot portions intermediate said extreme portions and said centralized slot portion.

6. The combination asset forth in claim 4 wherein the extreme portions of said slot are narrower in width than adjacent slot portions intermediate said extreme portions and said centralized slot portion.

7. In a die cutting device for punching cards. the improvement comprising:

a die member including a card receiving cavity for receiving a card to be punched;

a punching member movable with respect to said die member for punching said card; and

means situated adjacent said card receiving cavity having a card receiving slot therein, said slot having a centralized portion of narrower width than noncentralized portions thereof for forcing the operator to straighten a curved card upon insertion into said die receiving cavity to facilitate seating of said card within said card receiving cavity.

8. The combination as set forth in claim 7 wherein the extreme portions of said slot are narrower in width than adjacent slot portions intermediate said extreme portions and said centralized slot portion. 

